Vacant Muddy Waters house found to be 'dangerous' in city inspection

An inspection found the onetime home of Muddy Waters on South Lake Park Avenue in Chicago to be unsafe. Waters died in 1983. (Heather Charles, Chicago Tribune)

Once upon a time the house at 4339 S. Lake Park Ave. was filled with children, home cooking and the kind of music that has made Chicago famous around the world.

Blues icon Muddy Waters owned the home and lived there from 1954 until he moved to Westmont two decades later, according to published accounts and interviews.

"It was the rocking house," said harmonica star James Cotton, who used to play music in the basement "for days" with Muddy Waters and other blues greats.

But these days the home is quiet and dark, and this month the city issued a warning letter to the owner after an inspection found the property to be unsafe.

Records show the Nov. 29 buildings department inspection described the property as "dangerous," with the windows, doors, stairway and porch in need of proper maintenance.

The letter, dated Jan. 11, is the first step in the process of obtaining a court order that would allow demolition but gives the owner 15 days to remedy the problems.

City officials confirmed the owner of the home has since reached out to try to address the issues and staffers from the Commission on Chicago Landmarks are offering help.

"The assistance is intended to help get the building secure, safe and viable as a residential property," said Peter Strazzabosco, deputy commissioner at the Department of Housing and Economic Development.

Documents filed with the Cook County recorder of deeds indicate a bank filed a notice of foreclosure on the property in August. Chandra Cooper, identified in public records as the owner, declined to comment.

The city Buildings Department has not asked the circuit court for an order to demolish the house, and once in court it could ask a judge to drop the matter if it finds that the property is secured and the violations resolved. The house is in the North Kenwood landmark district, meaning any demolition plan would need an OK from the landmarks commission.

"The city of Liverpool would recognize the historic, cultural and tourism value of John Lennon's house and never allow it to be torn down," said Bruce Iglauer, president and founder of Alligator Records, a major blues label. "Muddy Waters was every bit as important to the blues and to Chicago as the Beatles were to rock 'n' roll and Liverpool."

Tim Samuelson, cultural historian with the city's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, said many people have recognized the historical significance of the site and proposed that it be turned into some sort of museum in tribute.

"But people always respected the fact that it was still in the ownership of Muddy's family," he said.

The home was showing signs of neglect in 2000 when artists and community volunteers cleaned up the property and painted murals on the window and door coverings. After that, Samuelson said, residents moved in and occupied it for several years.

Now that the home is again vacant, however, callers to the city's 311 line have complained that the property is unsecured and unsafe.

Waters, whose given name was McKinley Morganfield, shared the home with his wife, Geneva, and, for years at a time, with blues musicians new to the city, according to historical accounts and interviews with musicians.

Cotton arrived in Chicago in 1954 from West Memphis, Ark., and stayed in the house for six years. He said Waters' bed was directly over the basement, so he learned the music even when band members practiced without him.

"He laid in the bed listening to us down there," Cotton said in an interview.

Harmonica player Paul Oscher and blues pianist Otis Spann both lived for years in the basement, which Waters had divided into several rooms.

"I would practice in my room and Spann would be in the back," Oscher said. "The piano was in the middle and me and him would play together."

The house was where Louise Smith first noticed drummer Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, who later became her husband. Big Eyes was playing music in the basement, Louise recalled, while she and her sister visited Geneva.

After Waters moved out of the house, Louise said, the Smiths lived there for several years before moving down the street. Their son, Kenny "Beedy Eyes" Smith, also a renowned drummer, said he got his education by spending hours in the basement with his father and Muddy Waters.

"There was so much love there and so many musicians was in and out of there," Louise Smith said.

In summertime, Oscher said, the celebration expanded into the neighborhood. He said that in warm weather Spann would set up his electric organ in an alley near the house, and area residents would trickle into the alley and join in singing.

"That neighborhood," he said. "You can't tell there was a whole lot of things happening there by looking at it now. But it was great."